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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Repost: Cantor article on earmarks

House Republicans took an unprecedented stand in March, imposing an immediate moratorium on earmarks for the remainder of the Congress. Yet, because the governing rules of one Congress cannot bind the next, this moratorium will expire on Jan. 3, 2011. I do not believe that should be allowed to happen.

A lot has happened over the last eight months. Unfortunately none of it has done anything to rein in spending, eliminate waste or send the message to frustrated people across this country that Washington gets it.

That is why the next Republican Conference should immediately move to eliminate earmarks. Should Republicans be elected as the majority party, I believe that we should extend the moratorium to the entire House – to Democrats and Republicans alike. And I encourage President Barack Obama and the White House to take a similar step.

There is no question that earmarks – rightly or wrongly – have become the poster child for Washington’s wasteful spending binges. They have been linked to corruption and scandal, and serve as a fuel line for the culture of spending that has dominated Washington far too long. These reasons alone would justify completely eliminating earmarks, but the basis for my position doesn’t end there.

The old adage that he who can’t be trusted to reform the “small” problems can’t be trusted to reform the “large” ones applies as much to government as to individuals. Both Republicans and Democrats have an enormous task before us if we are going to get America’s fiscal house in order.

We will have to propose and execute real reductions to existing programs. If we hope to preserve Social Security and Medicare for seniors, younger workers and our children, we must begin the conversation about common-sense ways to reform both programs.

These are big things – and there is little question that turning trillion-dollar deficits into surpluses, while starting to pay down our national debt, is an enormous mountain to climb. Yet the long climb to fiscal responsibility must begin with a few smaller, but necessary, steps.

If Republicans put forward real federal spending reductions while simultaneously returning to the old way of earmarking billions of dollars, we will rightfully forfeit the people’s trust. After all, how can anyone defend reducing spending for housing programs, for example, while still earmarking for their favorite local museum?

Additionally, over the last decade, Congress has spent too much time in the process of earmarking. Not only did the number of earmarks explode, but the amount of time spent by members and their staff soliciting, vetting, submitting and attempting to secure earmarks soared as well.

Congress must change its ways from the inside out. That means time once spent securing earmarks would be far better spent overseeing federal agencies, reforming federal programs, cutting spending or eliminating barriers to job creation and economic recovery.

The challenges confronting our country — and our Congress — are far too great for so much time and money to be spent on earmarks.

I have little doubt that this position is going to be controversial in Washington. I have heard the arguments from those who believe we need to return to earmarking. I believe it’s important to answer a few of them:

•Some assert that members should represent their constituents’ needs. Of course they should! Yet we, as conservatives, must not lose sight of the fact that Congress is the national legislature. It is our duty to consider those things that cannot be accomplished by state or local governments or, even better – private associations. When Congress spends a single dollar, that dollar is taken from the paycheck of a family in Culpeper, or a young worker in Richmond, or, as is now the case, borrowed and placed on their already maxed out credit card. We have an obligation to uphold the national interest, and that means ensuring that decisions about funding local streetscape improvements are returned to local officials.•Some make the case that if Congress doesn’t earmark, unelected bureaucrats will decide how to spend the same money. In the next Congress, however, our mission must be to ensure that time is spent reducing spending — period. If bureaucrats are misspending funds or wasting them on low priority projects, our responsibility should be to conduct the proper oversight to hold them to account and fix the problem. Taxpayers deserve that we hold the administration accountable. In recent years, earmarking has taken the place of setting guidelines and conducting strong oversight. We will change that.Earmarks are a symptom of a disease — and that disease is Washington’s runaway spending. There is no silver bullet. For us to successfully eliminate the sickness, several prescriptions are needed. One is to apply the current House Republican earmark moratorium to all House members.